I tested the digestibility of different multivitamins

Somone posted a link to a site a while ago about the digestibility of multivitamins. The site was about pregnant women taking multis & folic acid, but it was still relevent. I don't have the link anymore, I just saved their instructions in a word document. These are the instructions they gave for testing your multi :

"Drop your vitamin tablet into a half cup of vinegar and stir gently. Every five minutes or so give it another stir. Within 20 minutes your vitamin should be completely broken down -- if not dissolved, at least separated into tiny particles."

There are some problems with this. First off, I would think that stomach acids are much more potent than vinegar. Second, I don't know any reason for 20 minutes being the cutoff point. You could actually argue that a pill that's harder to break down would be absorbed better, much like casein protein.

Comments:
-You can't compare Equate Mature & regular Centrum directly because Equate Mature contains many extras that Centrum leaves out. The Centrum tab was the smallest multi tab in the bunch. GNC Women's was the biggest.
-I was a little surprised that Equate Mature was broken down faster than One a Day Men's, because they contain roughly the same ingredients.
-GNC Women's Ultra Mega looks horrible compared to the others, but it doesn't get completely digested.
-Breaking most vitamin tablets in half is easy and does speed up digestion, but may not make a difference in the end result.

1 True Conclusion:
-Most, if not all, multi tablets are completely digested. It's a total myth that they simply pass through whole.

This is exactly why I take NOW Eco Green Multi in capsule form. You can be sure those capsules get digested; they damn near dissolve in your mouth. I've run tests on various tablet multivites and was usually not happy with the results.

In the absence of other factors (such as being 'timed release') and other methods of determining dissolution, I think the vinegar test is actually a fair assessment.

"The United States Pharmacopeial Convention, Inc. (USP) has established manufacturing standards for vitamins and minerals with regard to quality, purity, potency, and the dissolution and disintegration properties of supplements. However, only a few manufacturers state on the label that their products meet the USP requirements. It therefore has been suggested (Blonz, 1996) that consumers test questionable pills themselves, by placing them in half a glass of vinegar, to simulate the acidic environment of the stomach. According to USP, calcium supplements should dissolve in 30 minutes, magnesium supplements in 45 minutes; for vitamin E tablets, a 45-minute disintegration is acceptable, and for multivitamin and mineral combinations, a 60-minute dissolution." -- Journal of Medicinal Food, 1998

Digested, as in broken down is one thing. But isn't part of digestion the evacuation and or excression of waste product. I would be more interested in the absorption of the vit/min. Just because it digests/breaks down does not mean it is not passed/excreted as waste by the body if it cannot absorb it. No?/Yes?

I was under the impression that vitamins that discolor your urine are vitamins that are not being absorbed and are being passed by the digestive system. Vitamins that have higher absorption do not discolor urine.

The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.They'll tell you black is really white, the moon is just the sun at night and when you walk in golden halls you get to keep the gold that falls.

I was under the impression that vitamins that discolor your urine are vitamins that are not being absorbed and are being passed by the digestive system. Vitamins that have higher absorption do not discolor urine.

This is correct. Excess and unabsorbed vitamins/minerals/protein will cause any type of "evacuation" to change color.

I've taken GNC's MM vitamins for over 4 years now. Never did I have discoloration of urine. Of course I chug water likes it's cool. I recently decided to change brands because of cost. I bought some NOW Eco Green Multi vitamins. Not ony are they a ****load cheaper, but it contains more of what the GNC brand does per serving and then some.

The Multi-V I take is highly potent. I believe it is too potent to be fully absorbed. I think my body is absorbing as much as possible, then excreting the rest/ leftover as neon colored urine. If my body isn't absorbing it's maximum potential, then I need to rethink my Multi-V. However, the brand I use is fairly cheap and like stated before, full of vitamins and minerals.

Digested, as in broken down is one thing. But isn't part of digestion the evacuation and or excression of waste product. I would be more interested in the absorption of the vit/min. Just because it digests/breaks down does not mean it is not passed/excreted as waste by the body if it cannot absorb it. No?/Yes?

I was under the impression that vitamins that discolor your urine are vitamins that are not being absorbed and are being passed by the digestive system. Vitamins that have higher absorption do not discolor urine.

Exactly! And this is why I use *cue commercial*

The all natural and amazing Eco Green Multi Vitamin by NOW Foods. It's fully absorbed and never turns your wee-wee yellow!

Seriously though, I've been pimping this one since I can remember. It's highly effective and rather cheap.

Digested, as in broken down is one thing. But isn't part of digestion the evacuation and or excression of waste product. I would be more interested in the absorption of the vit/min. Just because it digests/breaks down does not mean it is not passed/excreted as waste by the body if it cannot absorb it. No?/Yes?

I was under the impression that vitamins that discolor your urine are vitamins that are not being absorbed and are being passed by the digestive system. Vitamins that have higher absorption do not discolor urine.

if its absorbed and than excreted it will color the urine
if its not absorbed it will color your feces (sh*t)

I have noticed a lot of posts where people are taking a multivitamin without iron in it. If anyone has a link to a post discussing why iron is considered bad id like to see it as ive just bought a 120 count bottle of centrum performance which contains iron.

I have noticed a lot of posts where people are taking a multivitamin without iron in it. If anyone has a link to a post discussing why iron is considered bad id like to see it as ive just bought a 120 count bottle of centrum performance which contains iron.

Men dont need extra iron. The intake with food is enough. Iron compete with zinc in assimilation and, well, you know the importance of zinc.

Men dont need extra iron. The intake with food is enough. Iron compete with zinc in assimilation and, well, you know the importance of zinc.

I disagree, and always have disagreed with people recommending w/o iron. Especially if your a college student reluctant to eat your dining halls red meat, or just do not eat a lot of red meat in general...then iron is very important. At one point I was actually supplementing with extra iron due to some deficiencies noticed in lab tests.